Queen Latifah is no Jacques Cousteau, but she was not expected to be.
Audio:
The soundtrack provided for "Arctic Tale" is a decent sounding Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. The mix brings the harsh elements of the Arctic to life with enveloping use of the surrounds and occasionally deep bass from the low frequency effects channel. The swirling winds in some scenes sound great. The natural sounds of the animals also sound quite good. Even the farts come across loud and clear. I loved listening to the roar of the polar bear. The musical score of the documentary is minimal and almost transparent at times to the breathtaking vistas of the Arctic. Queen Latifah´s vocals come across very clear and at a proper volume. I agree with John that I would rather listen to Morgan Freeman, but she does a good job at narration. All of those ´Aunties´ just grated on my ears after a while. All-in-all, "Arctic Tale" sounded pretty good as far as documentaries go.
Extras:
The DVD release of "Arctic Tale" contains a few bonus materials. The Making of Arctic Tale (24:06) takes a detailed look at how fifteen years of Arctic research gave birth to this project and how the footage was filmed and thrown together to create the documentary. I found this to be quite entertaining and actually enjoyed it more than the film. I liked the film, but this was a little easier to swallow for us grown-ups. It was a nice look at how the filmmakers endured the Arctic cold and pieced together a good story about the life of animals in the Arctic. "Are We There Yet? World Adventure: Polar Bear Spotting" (7:03) is the only other true supplement and finds a pair of young children going looking for polar bears via plane and ´Tundra Buggy´ bus to Canada and other locations. It was a short video diary of the young ones´ adventure and about as cute as the main feature. A Theatrical Trailer and a Preview clip are also included.
Fans may also want to check out the interview that co-director Adam Ravetch gave DVD Town.
Closing Comments:
When I first started watching "Arctic Tale," I was less than impressed. Some of the wording used by Queen Latifah didn´t seem to belong in a documentary. Then I started to realize that this was meant to appeal to younger audiences and I started to feel a little more accepting to her narration. The story itself was good and I was saddened when the boy bear died. This left only five female characters to the story and Latifah was a better choice in this regard than somebody such as Morgan Freeman. This was an informative documentary that entertains as it tells it sad story of life in the Arctic. It showed the beauty of the Arctic and the polar bears and educated myself as to the gaseous nature of the sea lions. The DVD was hindered by the rough looking source materials and visuals were very uneven. Sound was good. The features ran for roughly a half an hour and were worth checking out if you enjoyed the documentary. I found "Arctic Tale" to be good, but far preferred "March of the Penguins" or some of the older National Geographic documentaries that I grew up watching. Queen Latifah is no Jacques Cousteau, but she was not expected to be.
The soundtrack provided for "Arctic Tale" is a decent sounding Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. The mix brings the harsh elements of the Arctic to life with enveloping use of the surrounds and occasionally deep bass from the low frequency effects channel. The swirling winds in some scenes sound great. The natural sounds of the animals also sound quite good. Even the farts come across loud and clear. I loved listening to the roar of the polar bear. The musical score of the documentary is minimal and almost transparent at times to the breathtaking vistas of the Arctic. Queen Latifah´s vocals come across very clear and at a proper volume. I agree with John that I would rather listen to Morgan Freeman, but she does a good job at narration. All of those ´Aunties´ just grated on my ears after a while. All-in-all, "Arctic Tale" sounded pretty good as far as documentaries go.
Extras:
The DVD release of "Arctic Tale" contains a few bonus materials. The Making of Arctic Tale (24:06) takes a detailed look at how fifteen years of Arctic research gave birth to this project and how the footage was filmed and thrown together to create the documentary. I found this to be quite entertaining and actually enjoyed it more than the film. I liked the film, but this was a little easier to swallow for us grown-ups. It was a nice look at how the filmmakers endured the Arctic cold and pieced together a good story about the life of animals in the Arctic. "Are We There Yet? World Adventure: Polar Bear Spotting" (7:03) is the only other true supplement and finds a pair of young children going looking for polar bears via plane and ´Tundra Buggy´ bus to Canada and other locations. It was a short video diary of the young ones´ adventure and about as cute as the main feature. A Theatrical Trailer and a Preview clip are also included.
Fans may also want to check out the interview that co-director Adam Ravetch gave DVD Town.
Closing Comments:
When I first started watching "Arctic Tale," I was less than impressed. Some of the wording used by Queen Latifah didn´t seem to belong in a documentary. Then I started to realize that this was meant to appeal to younger audiences and I started to feel a little more accepting to her narration. The story itself was good and I was saddened when the boy bear died. This left only five female characters to the story and Latifah was a better choice in this regard than somebody such as Morgan Freeman. This was an informative documentary that entertains as it tells it sad story of life in the Arctic. It showed the beauty of the Arctic and the polar bears and educated myself as to the gaseous nature of the sea lions. The DVD was hindered by the rough looking source materials and visuals were very uneven. Sound was good. The features ran for roughly a half an hour and were worth checking out if you enjoyed the documentary. I found "Arctic Tale" to be good, but far preferred "March of the Penguins" or some of the older National Geographic documentaries that I grew up watching. Queen Latifah is no Jacques Cousteau, but she was not expected to be.
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